The background of the invention will be discussed in two parts:
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to toy blocks, and more particularly to a toy block having at least two portions connected by a hinge, pivoting of the block portions transforming the block into a figure or article.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toys which have pivotable or extendible parts, such as toy blocks, vehicles, figures and the like have been a source of learning and amusement for children. Some such toys have one configuration, which may be transformed into another configuration unlike the first, when the parts are pivoted or extended. In the construction of some such toys, different forms of hinges and interconnections have been utilized.
In the area of blocks or sticks having hinged connections, one such device is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,245,875, by Rutherford, entitled "Toy", issued June 17, 1941, in which the device includes a plurality of plate members, pivotally connected by straps forming double acting hinges.
Another similar structure is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,578, entitled "Array of Blocks Joined by Double Acting Hinge Means", issued to Sudermann, on Jan. 6, 1970, the toy being a set of blocks interconnected by flexible strap members selectively secured to certain faces of the blocks.
Another device having blocks is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,670, entitled "Hollow Construction Toy with Hinged Connector", issued to Sloop et al on Feb. 24, 1970, the block being cubic and hollow, with certain faces having pins extending therefrom and other faces having apertures therin for receiving the pins. Some of the sides are formed with an integral hinge which may be pivoted along with like interconnected blocks.
Another block toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,310, entitled "Body of Variable Form Composed of a Plurality of Hingedly Connected Orthogonal Prisms No Less Than Six", such patent being issued to Back-Greissau, on Dec. 19, 1970, such patent disclosing a structure having arcuate portions pivotally connected to one another in such a way that they may be manipulated to form one or more figures.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,396, was issued Aug. 3, 1971 to Thomson for "System of Hinged Polygonic Shapes", this patent disclosing a system including a plurality of interconnected blocks with an adhesively backed strip hinge along preselected adjoining edges, pivoting about the hinges creating different overall block configurations.
Another block type toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,550,989, issued Aug. 25, 1925 to Stephens, entitled "Toy Block", such patent showing a channel shaped housing having first and second hinged pivotable block members therein, the opening of which simulate a figure. This patent reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 16,411, on Aug. 24, 1926.
A similar type toy is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,660,119, issued to Decker Feb. 21, 1928, entitled "Nesting Furniture", such patent disclosing furniture like articles cut from a common block and nestable to recreate the block
U.S. Pat. No. 2,977,688, was issued Apr. 4, 1961 to Redey for "Educational Cubic Toy Device", such patent disclosing a container for storing blocks, the container having hinged sidewalls for opening to create a three-walled background-producing structure for use with the blocks.
The following patents were also uncovered in a search of the prior art and are directed to toys which include two or more parts which are hinged or pivoted relative to one another to create different visual impressions.
U.S. Pat. No. 497,159, issued May 9, 1893 to Allen for a "Toy", which includes an egg-shaped container having a foldable ship like toy therein, which is unfolded upon withdrawal from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,503,707, issued Apr. 11, 1950, to Braman for a "Convertible Toy", which is a toy configured to simulate a boat, with parts pivotable to represent wings and an aft portion extendible on pivoting of the wings to represent the tail of the airplane.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,669, issued Mar. 20, 1979, to Ogawa for a "Multiple Function Water-Going Toy", such toy having a number of reconfigurable toy parts attachable through magnetic members.
U.S. Pat. No Re. 31,503, issued Jan. 24, 1984, to Saito for a "Trackway and Powered Vehicle with Changeable Covers", such toy including a vehicle having different top portions which may be attached during travel on a trackway.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,236,143, issued to Kellermann on Mar. 25, 1941 for a "Toy Vehicle", such patent disclosing a vehicle having a roof rotatable about a longitudinal axis to create a convertible with a driver.
An "Articulated Nestable Device" is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,969, issued July 23, 1957, to Henrickson, the device being made up of a plurality of progressively sized, flexibly connected, nestable components.
A "Rocket Train Toy Assembly" is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,620, issued July 19, 1983 to Murakami, the toy including a time release mechanism for reconfiguring a toy train into a toy rocket.
Another reconfigurable toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No 4,435,916, issued Mar. 13, 1984 to Iwao et al for a "Toy Vehicle Capable of Changing Size and Shape", the toy vehicle having biased and extendible members operable between first and second positions to create different sized and shaped vehicles.
Another reconfigurable toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,999, issued Oct. 23, 1984 to Harigai et al for a "Transformable Toy Vehicle", the toy vehicle having pivotable and extendible body components operable between first and second positions to create different vehicles.
Another reconfigurable toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,347, issued May 10, 1983, to Murakami, for a "Toy Tractor Assembly", the toy vehicle having pivotable body components operable between first and second positions in response to a time delay mechanism.
A convertible toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,679, issued June 19, 1984 to Ogawa, for "Toy Figure Convertible into Toy Vehicle", the toy having wheels, and simulating a figure in a first position, and a vehicle in a second position with locomotion capability.
A reconfigurable toy figure is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,840, entitled "Toy Vehicle Doll Assembly", issued Oct. 16, 1979 to Ogawa, the toy being in the form of a humanoid with removable appendages and includes other devices for attachment to the figure to create a vehicle.
A toy figure for use with a building set is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,248, entitled "Toy Figure With Channeled Leg Members", such patent issuing May 20, 1980 to Tapdrup, the toy including leg members having channels or recesses for attachment to a baseboard of a building set.
Another toy figure for use with a building set is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,842, entitled "Toy Figure", such patent issuing June 3, 1980 to Christiansen et al, the toy including leg members having channels or recesses for attachment to a baseboard of a building set.
A reconfigurable toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,564, entitled "Articulated Reconfigurable Robot Doll", issued to Ogawa on June 10, 1980, such patent disclosing a figure toy having detachable and joinable body components, some of which are configured to depict components of other items such as vehicles and airplanes, and may be used along with other attachable components.
Another reconfigurable toy robot is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,060, entitled "Toy Robot Vehicle Assembly", issued to Nakane on July 5, 1983, such patent disclosing three vehicles that can operate independently as toys, or alternatively can be reconfigured to simulate a robot.
U.S. Pat. No. 33,830, entitled "Hinge", was issued Dec. 3, 1861 to Dodge, the hinge including a generally U-shaped cross-sectional member with opposite ends extending into recesses in the edges of adjacent work pieces to be hinged, with hinge pins extending through opposite arms into engagement with the work pieces, thus creating a hidden hinge.
Another hinge construction is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 401,086, entitled "Hinge", issued to Turner on Apr. 9, 1889, the hinge including a plate member supporting a pair of parallel hinge pins with hinge plates attached thereto for attachment within recesses of adjacent edges of the pieces to be joined.
Another hinge construction is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,275,942, entitled "Fire Screen Hinge", which issued Mar. 10, 1942, to Barry, the hinge including rod members in adjacent sections of the screen with the rod members encircled by a ring.
A hinged "Film Rack" is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,364,891, issued Dec. 12, 1944 to Cooper, such device including projections on the edges of adjoined sections, the projections being configured for retaining hinge pins therein, with the hinge pins being configured in the form of a bicycle chain master link.
A pinless hinge construction is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,422, entitled "Hinge", which issued to Baer on Sept. 24, 1968, such hinge including two longitudinal leaves or hinge members rotatably joined along their adjacent longitudinal edges, the structure being provided with longitudinal thrust bearing means engaging the adjacent longitudinal edges of the hinge members to prevent longitudinal movement thereof with respect to each other.
A hinge construction for a ski is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,273, entitled "Separable or Foldable Ski", issued to Rothmayer on Nov. 14, 1978, the patent disclosing a number of arrangements for interconnecting the parts of the ski, one such arrangement including a C-shaped hinge member having hinge pins passing through the ends of the arms of the hinge member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,378, was issued to Daws on Dec. 26, 1978, and is entitled "Self-Locking Hinge", the hinge including hinge pins interconnected by a spring for connection of tubular elements while permitting pivoting.
A "Hinge Element" is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,403, issued July 29, 1980 to Knudsen, the hinge element including a tubular bush in a corner of a block and a complementary pivot pin in a corner of another block.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toy block.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toy block having at least two irregularly configured components hingedly nestingly interconnected to fold into a generally regular geometric three dimensional block.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toy block capable of assuming different configurations.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hinge coupling mechanism for interconnecting three dimensional components.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toy block having pivotally hinged components, which may be manipulated to form a figure or article.